The present invention is directed toward a dishwasher status indicator and, more particularly, toward a device which is intended to be left inside of a dishwasher and which gives a visual indication to the user as to whether the dishes are clean or dirty. This reduces the possibility of soiling a clean load of dishes by inadvertently placing dirty dishes into a machine that had been run and also reduces the possibility of inadvertently utilizing dirty dishes or utensils that are in the machine waiting to be cleaned.
Automatic dishwashers have been popular for many years in most homes and in commercial establishments such as restaurants and the like. Dishwashers are used not only to clean soiled dishes but to also sanitize the dishes and tableware. Substantially all dishwashers operate by the use of an electrical or electronic timer which times the various cycles of operation and advances the machine from one cycle to the next. The average automatic dishwasher may take from one-half hour to an hour to complete a full cycle of operation.
Because of the substantial time involved in the operation of an automatic dishwasher, the average user would not normally stand around waiting for the machine to be done so that the same can be immediately unloaded. Rather, the user frequently will go on to other chores or may leave the house for the day intending to empty the machine at a later time upon return. It is not uncommon, however, for the user to forget that he or she had run the dishwasher or for another family member or co-worker to not know whether the machine had been run and, therefore, whether the dishes and utensils therein are clean.
Visual inspection of the contents of a dishwasher is not always satisfactory. While the dishes may appear to be clean, this does not guarantee that the machine had been run and that all of the dishes and utensils have been sanitized. As a result, the user may unknowingly remove and utilize a dirty dish or utensil or may place a dirty dish into an unknown clean machine thereby soiling the clean dishes which would necessitate running the entire load a second time.
Devices have been previously proposed for indicating to a user whether the dishes in a dishwasher are clean or dirty. U.S. Pat. No. 4,129,954 to Hulteen, for example, is directed toward a sign which bears alternate messages such as DIRTY DISHES and CLEAN DISHES and which is affixed to a support rod removably attached to the rack of the dishwasher. The user must remember, however, to manually move the sign between the two positions. If the user forgets to move the sign from dirty dishes to clean dishes, it will always be in the dirty dishes mode even after the machine has been run. Similarly, the user may forget to move the sign into the dirty dishes mode thereby erroneously suggesting that the dishes are clean.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,477,872 to Berg, a device is proposed which is intended to provide an automatic indication of whether the dishes within an automatic dishwasher are dirty or clean. The device includes a container or compartment that catches a portion of the liquid utilized by the dishwasher and further includes a release mechanism for releasing the liquid when dishes or other articles are removed from the dishwasher. Thus, if the device contains liquid, this is an indication that the dishes or other articles in the dishwasher are clean. If the device is empty, it indicates that the articles are dirty. However, it may not always be readily apparent to a user as to whether there is liquid remaining in the device. Furthermore, there is the possibility that the liquid could be inadvertently released, thereby giving a false indication that the dishes are dirty.
A more complex indicator is suggested in U.S. Pat. No. 5,229,753 to Berg et al. This patent discloses a warning device which includes a sensor and which provides a visual and/or audible alarm to indicate that the dishes within a dishwasher are clean or dirty. The system described in this patent includes a detector or sensor for sensing whether the racks within the dishwasher hold articles and further includes logic circuits responsive to the detector which indicate that the articles have been cleaned when a predetermined operating state, for example, the end of the wash cycle, of the machine is detected. The electronically-controlled system described in this patent is obviously somewhat complex and is certainly more than may be necessary. Furthermore, the complexity of the described invention would certainly increase the cost of the same.